HOLMES BEACH — For West Manatee Fire & Rescue District (WMFR), two celebrations are better than one.

More than 60 people came out March 25 to WMFR Station 3 on Marina Drive in Holmes Beach to honor retired Fire Chief Andy Price and stayed to join in on the district’s open house community celebration.

In celebration of Price’s 35 years in the fire service before retiring in 2015, the district honored him by naming the Island fire station after the former chief.

“It’s an honor, obviously, but very humbling,” Price said after the unveiling of the plaque which will adorn the entrance to the station in his honor. During the dedication, Price received a standing ovation.

“To me, it’s a great honor to have served with Andy,” WMFR Commissioner George Harris said. Harris credited Price with bringing “uniform, functional consolidation” to the other fire districts in Manatee County and fostering communication between the various fire chiefs.

“I think it’s very appropriate and only fitting this station be named in his honor,” Harris said.

Former WMFR Commissioner Larry Tyler also spoke during the festivities, attributing the success of the district largely to Price, who helped complete the consolidation of two fire districts in 2000 which created WMFR.

“It has been a privilege and an honor to work with Andy,” Tyler said.

After the dedication, celebrations continued with a community open house where visitors were invited to come into the station, meet firefighters and explore the apparatus used by the department. Fun for the whole family was available with an obstacle course, bounce house and all-terrain vehicle pull for children. The district also served hamburgers and chips for visitors.

“It’s a good day,” Chief Tom Sousa said.

TALLAHASSEE – The vacation rental bill filed by Sen. Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) is moving through the Florida Senate with an amendment that would not bode well for the Island cities.

On Tuesday, March, 21, the Regulated Industries Committee ruled favorably on Senate Bill 188 by a 7-3 margin. The amended bill’s next stop will be the Community Affairs Committee and then the Rules Committee that includes Sen. Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton).

Last week’s favorable ruling on the bill came after the committee adopted an amendment that would have far-reaching implications locally.

Steube’s bill originally sought to prohibit local governments from enacting new vacation rental regulations or enforcing regulations adopted after June 1, 2011. The amended bill proposes local governments be allowed to impose regulations aimed at short-term rentals, but those regulations would also apply to long-term rentals, second homes and permanent residences.

“A local law, ordinance or regulation may regulate activities that arise when a property is used as a vacation rental provided such regulation applies uniformly to all residential properties … However, a local, law, ordinance or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of rentals of vacation rentals,” the amended bill states.

If adopted without further committee amendment and joined by the House companion bill, cities that enacted rental regulations after June 2011 would have to terminate existing regulations or make them applicable to all residential properties. Here on the Island, the regulatory casualties would potentially include the rental registration fees, home inspections, parking and trash restrictions and occupancy limits in effect in Anna Maria and/or Holmes Beach. The resulting law would prevent Bradenton Beach commissioners from adopting previously discussed rental regulations that would impose occupancy limits and require side yard trash pick-up and exterior signs containing owner/agent contact information.

Bill discussed

When presenting his amended bill, Steube said its purpose was to protect property rights and ensure that all properties are treated equally.

Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy traveled to Tallahassee last week to oppose the bill. He told the committee the vacation rental ordinance adopted by the Anna Maria Commission 2015 does not does not include noise, parking or building regulations that pertain only to vacation rentals.

“All the rules apply equally across the board, except we have two problem solving tools: One is registration and other one is occupancy limits. Senate Bill 188 would strip away these important problem-solving tools,” he said.

Murphy also said the proposed amendment would place inordinate burdens on city resources if required to apply existing ordinances to non-rentals.

Holmes Beach lobbyist Cari Roth expressed similar views.

Committee Chair Travis Hutson (R-Palm Coast) questioned the need for local regulations when vacation rental owners are already required to acquire annual licenses from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations (DBPR).

Roth pointed out that DBPR does not inspect vacation rentals before issuing an annual license. Hutson claimed DBPR did inspect vacation rentals, but his statement was a partial-truth. Most DBPR inspections are complaint driven and/or the result of a rental being operated without a license.

Speaking by phone afterwards, Murphy said he was surprised by the lack understanding some senators exhibited and the inaccurate information presented in support of the bill.

Later that day, Holmes Beach Commissioner Jean Peelen said, “I tried watching, but the arrogance and misinformation were overwhelming.”

In response to Hutson’s statement, Peelen requested from DBPR copies of all vacation rental inspections conducted in 2016. A review of the 211 inspection forms received revealed no inspections on Anna Maria Island, one in Longboat Key and one in Bradenton.

HOLMES BEACH — One point is awarded to Holmes Beach in the battle between the city and the Bert Harris Act.

City leaders received notice March 22 that the court had rendered a final judgement in favor of the municipality in the Bert Harris case for 626 Key Royale Drive, owned by Kathleen Morgan and Leah Marie Enterprises LLC.

The property owners have 30 days from the date of the judgement to appeal the decision. The court retained jurisdiction over the issue of fees and costs.

Attorney Jay Daigneault advised in an e-mail accompanying the notice that he would prepare motions to recover both court costs and attorney fees for the city.

According to the notice, the city did misinterpret the Florida building code when representatives of the building department applied the 30 percent rule to the Key Royale Drive property. However, the court ruled against the property owner because the Bert Harris Act did not apply to the case.

The 30 percent rule is a Florida state statute which prohibits the remodeling of over 30 percent of the total area of a structure’s roof. The property owners’ initial building permit application in 2013 specified replacement of the entire roof and raising the home’s ceilings.

The Bert Harris Jr. Private Property Act allows homeowners to appeal for relief to a municipality which has unduly restricted the owner’s use of a residential property through legislation or ordinance.

In this case, the Bert Harris rules didn’t apply because the error was in the interpretation of the building code, not created by an ordinance.

The case was filed in 2015. The home has been under first a stop work order then a revoked permit, causing it to remain in an unfinished condition since 2014.

It wasn’t all good news for the city with regard to Bert Harris.

Mayor Bob Johnson received a summons March 23 regarding a Bert Harris case for 106 75th Street, a duplex property owned by Swackhamer Investments VI, LLC, Bmeehan Investaments VI, LLC, and Kmeehan Investments VI, LLC.

The summons requires the city to respond within 20 days of the notice date, March 21, with a written defense to the claims asserted by the property owners.

The owners assert the city unduly restricted the future development and use of the property when restrictions were placed on the number of bedrooms allowed at a duplex property in the R-2 zoning district, the amount and size of recreational water features and occupancy.

The owners filed a Bert Harris claim with the city in October 2016 asking for relief or $225,000 in compensation. The claim’s 150 day response period lapsed in early March with the city maintaining its stance on Bert Harris claims, refusing to offer compensation or amend its ordinances to appease claimants.

Holmes Beach had received 37 Bert Harris claims as of press time for The Sun.

TALLAHASSEE – The business tax bill proposed by Sen. Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) has been amended in a fashion that will no longer impact Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and other Florida cities.

The state legislation Steube originally proposed, Senate Bill 330, would have capped cities’ annual business tax fees at $25. It would have also prevented cities that do not have business tax programs from enacting them in the future.

The annual local business tax fees are charged to commercial endeavors that operate within a city that requires a local business license. The fees in Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach typically range from $20 to $180. The city of Anna Maria does not have a business tax program.

On Wednesday, March 22, the amended bill was ruled favorable by the Florida Senate’s Community Affairs Committee by a 5-0 margin. The amended bill must now pass through two more committees before being voted on by the entire Senate.

“This amendment basically removes most of the fiscal impact. It removes the $25 cap on local business taxes,” Steube said when presenting his amendment and bill to the committee members last week.

The amendment also removes the provision that would have prevented municipalities that do not have business tax programs from enacting them.

What remains of the bill would simply provide business tax exemptions for veterans and their spouses, active military members and their spouses and individuals who fall below the poverty line.

Representing the Florida League of Cities, Amber Hughes said, “I want to publicly thank Sen. Steube for addressing our largest concern.”

Sen. Aaron Bean (R-Jacksonville) also thanked Steube for amending the bill.

Support for the amendment was also expressed by representatives from the cities of Deland, Rivera Beach, Stuart and Wauchula.

Financial impact

During a ManaSota League of Cities meeting that took place in January, representatives from Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Longboat Key expressed concerns about the financial impact the business tax cap would have on their cities – fiscal impacts that would range from $40,000 to $100,000 annually.

The bill analysis and fiscal impact study provided to the senate committee members stated large Florida cities like Tampa, Orlando and Miami generate annual business tax revenues that range from $10.2 million to $7.6 million, and the bill’s total estimated impact on Florida cities would have been $156 million in 2017-18 and $160 million in 2018-19.

The document also noted that cities were given the right to collect such fees in 1989, and any legislative effort to strip cities of that taxing authority could be a potential violation of the Florida Constitution.

Holmes Beach Commissioner Jean Peelen represents her city on the ManaSota League of Cities board.

When asked about the amended business tax bill, she said, “I am glad Sen. Steube’s bill that attacked cities by capping business taxes did not succeed. It was yet another attack on home rule by those state legislators who believe they can run cities better than the cities can.”

HOLMES BEACH — An official bicycle path may soon be coming to a neighborhood near you.

The city engineer for all three Island cities, Lynn Burnett, presented the Holmes Beach portion of a bicycle plan March 22 in the first of two bike path forums at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.

Mayor Bob Johnson introduced Burnett to the more than a dozen attendees, encouraging discussion and requesting feedback from community members.

“This is an evening of pure discussion,” he said.

Burnett’s presentation included the city’s portion of the trail, planned to connect to the existing Anna Maria bike path in the north and a planned path through Bradenton Beach to Longboat Pass in the south. Her proposed bicycle plan would include lighted crosswalks at busy intersections and widened sidewalks to create a multi-use path for cyclists and pedestrians.

The path is proposed to run south from Gulf Drive to 85th Street, down Holmes Boulevard, which would be striped with sharrow lane markers where widening sidewalks isn’t possible, down 52nd Street to Second Avenue and connecting to the public beach.

Other options will be available, including a path down Marina Drive, one through Sixth Avenue to connect to Manatee Avenue and two potential paths from the public beach to Bradenton Beach.

“I think the path selected is a lot safer than what we have now,” Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said.

Some residents attending the meeting, however, did not feel that way.

Holmes Boulevard resident Kim Rash said he was concerned about the number of cyclists an official bike path could draw to his neighborhood.

“I feel like it’s a hard sell for Holmes Boulevard residents because we’ve been victimized by because we’ve been victimized by bad decisions,” he said. “We don’t want a bunch of bicyclists who don’t live on the Island going through our neighborhood.”

But Holmes Beach resident and cyclist Bart Bartelsman was pleased with the proposed bicycle path.

“From a bike perspective, I love it,” he said of the plan. “I had no idea you guys had done this much work on this project. It’s very well done.”

Burnett said she expected the bike path to primarily be used by residents, adding she believes visitors will go west toward the beaches or remain on Marina Drive to access shopping and restaurants.

Claudia Carlson, who helped Burnett with the project, said the implementation of the bicycle path wouldn’t take away any existing facilities or bicycle lanes.

With the limitation of funding, Burnett said “this is everything we can get done between now and 2021.”

Burnett proposes completing the main section of the path by the end of fiscal year 2019, with additions done in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. She expects most of the work to be done within the next 15 months. Monies for the estimated $1,264,108 project are proposed to come from the half-cent sales tax and gas tax funds. A $129,443 deficit has yet to be funded.

The bicycle path is proposed to be a stop-gap for local riders between the sometimes unsafe bicycle lanes currently in use and Burnett’s ultimate plan of a complete street Sun Trail with bicycle lanes, a wide sidewalk and vehicular travel lanes to provide multimodal transportation. The Sun Trail would extend from the Anna Maria Island Bridge to Longboat Pass along the Island’s main vehicle corridors, Gulf, Palm, Marina and East Bay drives.

A second bicycle path forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 29, at Holmes Beach City Hall. Following the feedback from the two forums, Burnett said she would develop a finalized plan to present to commissioners for approval.

It’s not exactly pulp fiction, but the city of Anna Maria has a trashy mystery unfolding.

Eleven Waste Management trash bins were reported as missing last year and one so far this year.

None of them have been recovered. They’ve just disappeared.

“You would think they would be found,” said Manatee County Sheriff’s Sgt. Russ Schnering. “Anna Maria is a small city, and it would be difficult to hide 12 trash bins.”

According to Schnering, the procedure for reporting a missing bin is simple enough: when one vanishes, the owner should call the Sheriff’s Office, which will issue a case number to forward to Waste Management so the bin can be replaced.

But it is a little strange that, after all this time, none have been found.

Waste Management spokesperson Dawn McCormick said the bins have serial numbers on them that owners should write down, which may help in recovering them if anymore walk off. However, she added that the company doesn’t go out and collect bins at unoccupied houses, which is where most of the bins were located when they disappeared.

In the meantime, if anyone knows anything about the missing bins they are asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 941-708-8899 or 941-747-3011.

ANNA MARIA – An unknown number of thieves went on a crime spree in Anna Maria Friday night, stealing two cars and burglarizing six others, one of which contained a loaded .45 caliber pistol that is now missing.

According to Sgt. Russell Schnering, from the Anna Maria division of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, one of the stolen cars was found the next day in Palmetto on U.S. 19, which leads north to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The recovered car was damaged, but it was not known if the damage occurred before or after the car was taken. As of Monday morning, the second car was still missing.

In addition to the pistol, thieves also made off with a Vera Bradley wallet containing cash, a restaurant apron containing cash and some loose change.

Schnering said the common denominator with the victimized vehicles was they were all left unlocked, and the keys were left in the two cars stolen. None of the burglarized cars showed signs of forced entry.

Schnering was not yet sure if these acts were the work of criminals from parts unknown or mischievous thrill-seekers from the Island or mainland.

“These are crimes of opportunity. It could easily be young kids, but at this point there’s no telling. For the last few years there’s been a couple of different groups out of Pinellas County that have the same M.O. They go into neighborhoods and go driveway-to-driveway looking for unlocked vehicles. The vehicles that have keys in them they take, and those vehicles usually go north. That’s just me speaking from experience when I used to work in Palmetto and the Lakewood Ranch area. They’d just go car-hopping, and those groups were not very old,” Schnering said.

Addressing the need for preventive measures, Schnering offered this advice to residents and visitors: “Lock your cars. Don’t leave any valuables in your vehicles, or keep all your valuables out of sight.”

He said the criminal investigation is being turned over to the Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigations Division.

“The detectives will pick it up and start analyzing the evidence.” Schnering said.

BRADENTON BEACH – Anonymous concerns relayed by Mayor Bill Shearon triggered a code enforcement investigation into alleged fire safety code compliance at multiple Bridge Street businesses, then raised even more questions about the source of the anonymous complaints.

Last week, Police Chief Sam Speciale said the issue arose during a recent weekly meeting he had with the mayor. Speciale said he saw the words “fire marshal” on Shearon’s monitor screen and asked what they referred to. Speciale said Shearon then mentioned potential fire code violations that he first attributed to a fire marshal and later to a fire department employee or fire inspector.

In response, Speciale asked Code Enforcement Officer Gail Garneau to investigate the locations and the potential violations Shearon shared with him.

On March 7, Garneau submitted a report that referenced the AMOB restaurant for signs allegedly blocking the entrance, Paradise Boat Tours for allegedly exceeding occupancy inside its small terminal, Hive Creations and Bridge Street Bazaar for display racks allegedly blocking the sidewalk, Island Time Bar and Grill for allegedly exceeding occupancy limits in its outdoor dining area and the Freckled Fin for the same alleged outdoor occupancy violations.

Garneau’s report stated that she spoke with someone at AMOB about sign placement and representatives at Hive Creations and Bridge Street Bazaar about maintaining a five-foot sidewalk clearance.

“Fire code inspections and allegations unfounded – case closed,” her report concluded.

The report states Garneau also contacted Fire Marshal Jim Davis, and Davis told her nobody from West Manatee Fire & Rescue recently inspected any Bridge Street businesses for alleged violations.

The issue resurfaced on Thursday, March 23, when Vice Mayor John Chappie sent Speciale an e-mail inquiry about any existing fire and safety concerns on Bridge Street.

In response to Chappie’s e-mail, Davis wrote, “West Manatee Fire & Rescue currently has no outstanding fire and life safety violations or discrepancies with any of the properties mentioned. My staff has reviewed the content of the code enforcement report and have no recollection of these issues.”

On Friday, Speciale said, “We cannot substantiate any of the complaints the mayor brought forward as far as the fire marshal having any concerns.”

Chappie said, “As far as I know, from the report I saw, the city’s done what they need to do; and the e-mail from Jim Davis speaks for itself.”

Island Time owner Bill Herlihy said his outdoor dining is approved, under capacity and subject to an annual fire safety inspection.

On Friday, Shearon was asked who originally shared these concerns with him. He said he was walking down Bridge Street, and a patron at one of the restaurants brought them to his attention.

“I’m not going to disclose who it is. A 'fire person' shared with me that there could be some concerns. He was trying to give a heads-up so there wouldn’t be any formal complaints, and I passed those along to the chief,” he said.

When pressed, Shearon said the unnamed “fire person” was retired and formerly worked in Manatee County.

Shearon has been involved in past disputes with local business owners, and he walks Bridge Street regularly, but he insisted the fire code concerns did not originate with him.

“I did not issue a complaint,” he said. “This is what I do with any person that stops me on the street. I will take their complaint, issue or concern and pass it on to the department head that’s involved, and it’s up to them to do what they want. I think this whole thing has been blown out of proportion.”